Motor driven fluid pump



, July 28, 1942. M. e. ROBINSON 2,291,346

Md'IOR DRIVEN FLUID PUMP Filed Sept. 20, 1940 Fig].

Z/ a 15 x 22 Inventor: F .3. Manuel G. Robinson,

by His Attorney.

Patented' July28, 1942 Moron an n setup some Manuel (G. Robinson, Glen Ridge, N. 3., assignor to General Electric ilompany, a corporation oi New York Application September'zt, recs, Serial No. causes ll chum. (on. ite s?) My invention relates to motor driven fluid pumps, and particularly-to motor driven pumps of the type used to circulate fluid through a vide animproved construction wherein the motor and impeller sea g means may be removed without substantial loss of fluid from the cysts to which the pump is connected.

It is a' further object of my invention to provide a pump construction having an improved flexible coupling means between the impeller and the motor shaft on which it is mounted.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide an improved construction and arrangement in a pump of this character wherein'the necessity. of separate. bearings for the pump impeller is eliminated.

Further. objects and advantages of my inven-= tion will become apparent as the following de-' scription proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In the drawing Fig. 1 showsa sectional view of a motor driven pump illustrating my invention, Fig. 2 is a'sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a modification of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing,- the pump l has an inlet passage II and an outlet passage l2 adapted to be connected to a system in which fluid is to to be pumped. The pump impeller I3 is directly driven by a suitable motor 14 mounted in a motor support 15 on cushion rings 16 and I! positioned in concentric cylindrical seats. The purpose of the cushion rings is to absorb motor vibrations and they 'may comprise a ring of resilient material, such as rubber, bound by concentric metal rings. The front cushion ring It is secured to the support I5 by suitable screw fastenings l8, only one of which is shown. The

- rear cushion ring I8 is carried by the end supporting member a which is secured to the frame member It by suitable screw fastenings, one of which is shown at l8a. A set screw 16c holds the ring IS in the desired position in its cylindrical bearing seat.

The casing of the pump it is provided with an opening or aperture is which is closed by a plate member it. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the plate member 28 is shown as being formed as an integral part of the motor support it. However, it will be understood that these parts may be made separate and fastenedtogetherby suitable fastening means. The plate member it is held in position, where it closes the aperture it by suitable screw fastenings, one of which is shown at 2h Preferably a gasket 22 is provided to secure a tight joint between the plate member and the pump casing. j

The impeller it has a hub comprising a sleeve portion it which extends through the aperture its in the plate member and receives in telescoping relation the projecting or overhung p )1- tion 2d of the motor drive shaft. The motor shaft 2c is coupled to the sleeve 23 by means of a coupling member 25, the details of construction of which are best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing.

Referring to Fig. 2, the coupling 28 comprises an annular member 28 having diametrically opposite radial holes 21, 2t, 2t and 3c. The screw member at is fastened in the hole 21 by a suitable screw fastening and has projecting therefrom a coupling pin 32 which passes through registering holes in the sleeve 23 and motor shaft 2s and terminates in hole 29. Screwmembers 33 and so are secured in holes 28 and all bysuitable screw fastenings and have projecting therefrom pins 35 and 36 which project inwardly into holes 3? and 38 in the sleeve 23. Suitable lock washers so may be provided to maintain the screws 3 i, 33 and 3c in position.

Attached to the plate member 29 by suitable screws 40 is a shaft seal assembly comprising an annular plate 4! having secured to its inner pe-= riphery an expansible bellows 42 which surrounds a portion of the sleeve 23 and carries at its outer end a thrust collar 44. The collar til is forced by a spring 43 into engagement with a thrust ring 45 carried h s. groove in the impeller l3 and forms therewith a shaft seal. Preferably, the

thrust ring 45 is backed by resilient material. t6

such as rubber to assist in keeping it in proper alignment with the collar i l. The force of spring 43 which pushes the collar dd against the thrust ring 45 causes an axial thrust on motor shaft 24 which is preferably taken up by suitable thrust bearings in the motor it not shown.

It will be noted that by virtue of my improved construction, if it is desired to remove the motor it for the purpose of inspection, repair or replacement while the pump still remains connected to the fluid system. it is only necessary to withdraw the coupling pin If, by unscrewing member 8i, and remove motor fastenings II and Ila. The motor may then be removed by withdrawing the motor shaft is from within the sleeve ll of the impeller it; when the coupling pin 82 is removed the force of the spring 48 caiues the impeller to move in an axial direction imtil it engages a stop 41 on the pump casing. However. the seal between the collar It and the ringllismaintainedsothatnofluidcanleak outside the pump casing.

If it is now desired to remove the shaft seal assembly, the members if and f4 unscrewed from coupling}! removing pins 3! and t1 and permitting annular member 28 to he slid oi! the sleeve 23. If now the fastening screws u are removed. the annular plate ll may be slipped oi! the end of the impeller sleeve 23 carrying with it the shaft seal assembly comprising the bellows 4f. the collar l4, and the spring It. When the shaft seal assembly is withdrawn, the force of the spring ll, normally pushing the impeller in a direction away from the plate II, is removed and the impeller it then moves in an axial direction towards the plate due to the force of the fluid pressure in pump I! which may still be left connected to a fluid circulating system. This axial movement of the impeller closes the space is and provides a second seal which prevents the flow of fluid from the pump chamber through the aperture "a. This permits the shaft seal assembly to be removed for inspection and repair without any appreciable loss of fluid from the pump such as would necessitate the draining of the entire connected fluidsystem or the provision of shut-oi! valves in line on both sides of the pump. The feature of having the impeller movable axially to provide a second fluid seal is disclosed-and .claimed in an application Serial No. 355,777 of Walter O. Lum flied September 7, 1940, which is now Patent 2,268,218, dated December 30, 194i,'and which is. assigned to the same assignee as this application. In cases where the fluid pressure in the pump is insufllcient to move the impeller towards the plate ill to form thesecond seal when the shaft seal assembly is removed, this movement can be accomplished manually by pulling on the extended end of the sleeve II.

The pump and motor may then be reassembled by reversing the operations previously described. The re-engagement of the impeller sleeve and motor shaft, after the insertion of the shaft seal assembly, is accomplished by using the coupling fl to pull the impeller towards the plate it until the proper alignment of holes is secured for the coupling pin 32. the couplin ll being held to the sleeve It by the pins ll and it.

It should also be noted to remove the impeller it is only necessary to remove the fastenings II. The entire assembly including the motor, motor support, impeller and shaft seal may be removed. the opening it in the pump casing being of suflicient diameter to permit insertion and removal of the impeller. Of course when this is done the fluid in the connected system must be drained or otherwise shut oil from the pump.

In some instances it is desirable to make the member I. of the coupling member 2! of flexible material. such as rubber, so as to provide a flexible coupling between the motor and the impeller. In such a case it is necessary to provide that when it is desired 5?. ll gnigr fig 3 3% absorbs the torque oscillations are otherwise transmitted to also reduces noise. This arrangement also the advantage that the motor shaft is prevented from sticking inside the impeller sleeve became of the continuous oscillating movement between thes'leeveandtheshaftduringoperationofthe pump. This arrangement has the still further advantage that it absorbs the torque pulsations of the motor while, at the same time. the axial alignment of the impeller and motor shaft, and consequently the alignment of the bearing surfaces of the seal, is properly maintained. This is due to the fact that the flexible coupling permits only a relative rotative movement between the impeller and the motor shaft, axial movement therebetween being prevented by the telescopin coupling.

Thus it is seen that I have provided an improved motor driven pump unit which is greatly simplifled in construction due to the elimination of the impeller shaft and bearings. Also, it should be noted that in the case some fluid leaks by-the shaft seal. it will be flung away from the rotating coupling member II by centrifugal action which prevents the fluid from coming into contact with and corroding the shaft ll. Thus thecouplingllalsoactsasafluidslingerand the addition of a separate member to accomplish this function is unnecessary. Oorroeionof the motor shaft 14 is also further prevented due to the fact that the motor shaft is carried inside of the impeller hub where it is completely protected. Furthermore. it should be noted that since the motor support and plate member II are rigidly secured together, the motor and impeller with its seal ring II are maintained in flxed alignment with the stationary thrust collar 44 carried by the plate ll whereby the life and effectiveness of the seal are greatly increased. Also, the fact that the motor and shaft seal can be conveniently replaced without disturbing the fluid system to which the pump is attached is obviously a great advantage.

While! have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that my invention has other applications and that changes and modifications, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I therefore aim in the appended claim to cover all such modifications and changes.

whatliclaimasnewanddesiretosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

Apparatus of the character described comprising in combination a fluid casing having an aperture therein, animpeller in said casing having a hollow hub extending through said aperture, a rotary seal for preventing leakage of fluid from said casing outwardly along saidhub. said seal comprising cooperating relatively movable bearing surfaces which depend for proper operation on a predetermined axial alignment of said hub relative to said casing, a motor having a pulsating torque, said motor being rigidly secured to said casing and having a projecting shaft on which said hub is slidably mounted in telescoping relation, and a resilient member interconmeeting said hub and said shaft, said resilient member being arranged to yield and permit a limited relative rotating movement between said hub and said shaft whereby a coupling is provided which absorbs the torque pulsations of said motor thereby preventing their transmission to said impeller and yet maintains said hub in accurate axial alignment with said shaft and said casing thus insuring proper operation of said seal.

MANUEL G. ROBINSON. I 

